Uooe locking mechanism



Sept. 6, N49. ca. H. WHITNEY 2,481,459

DOOR LOCKING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 24, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.f.

Inventor Guy H. Whifney Sept. 6, 1949.

G. H. WHITNEY DOOR LOCKING MECHANI SM Filed Feb. 24, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 .!!1 uentor Guy H. Whifney A I: I I) Q: I W W 1 I l W I flame Patented Sept. 6, 1949 U PATEN T FEFlCE DOOR LOCKING MECHANISM aGuyilinWhitney, Bangor, Maine Application February 24, 1947, Serial No. 730,314

l Claim. 1

This invention relates to new and useful improvements and structural refinementsin "door locking mechanisms, and 'the principal object of 'theinvention isto provide a device of the character herein described, which is particularly adapted for use in association with automobile doors.

A further object of the invention is :to provide a door locking mechanism which is simple in construction and operation, and which will not easily becomedamaged.

Another object of the :invention "is to provide a door locking mechanism which will maintain the door in proper alignment and which will eliminate the frequently experienced squeaks, rattles and other noises, such as are usually associated withthe use oflocks of conventional design.

vAn additional object of the invention is to provide a doorlocking mechanism which may be readily disassembled for purposes of cleaning, inspection or repair.

.A still further object orthe'invention istoprovide a door locking mechanism which will readily lend itself to economical'manufacture and which is otherwise well adapted for the purpose for which it is intended.

With the above -more "important objects in view, and such other objects as may become apparent as this specification proceedsgthe invention consists essentially of the arrangement and construction of parts asillustrated inthe accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an outside elevational view of a door anddoor'frame, showing-the invention embodied therein;

Figure 2 is an .inside elevational-view of the subject shown'in'Figure 1;

Figure 3 is ahorizontalcross sectional view on an enlarged scale, taken substantially in the plane of'the line 3-3 in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is an elevational view,.taken.-substantially in the plane of the line 4-4 in Figure 3, but with the locking bolt removed for sake of clearness;

Figure-5 isan-elevational View, taken 'substantially-in the plane of -the' line"5--5 in Figure 3, including an end -view I of the locking bolt;

Figure-Bis an insideelevational-viewof the device shown in Figure 3;

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the locking bolt;

Figure 8 is a perspective view of a trigger, and

Figure 9 is a perspective view of a keeper used in the invention.

Like characters-of reference are used todesignate like parts in the specification and'throughout the several views.

Referring now to the accompanying -"drawings in detail, the invention consists of a door locking mechanism designated generally by "the reference character l5, the-sameenibodyinginits construction a substantially 'cylindrical "sleeve Hi provided at one end thereof with a mounting plate l1, whereby itmay-beconveniently'secured in a depression Iii-formed in the edgelQ-of-adoor Eli, adjacent the door'frame 2|.

A projectable andretractable-locking bolt '22 is slidably positioned in the hereof the sleeve P6 and a suitable compression spring -23 is interposed between the bolt and theinnerend of 'the sleeve, whereby the bolt is normallyurged outwardly into a catch 24 provided inthe-door-frame 2|. This catch includes in its construction "a mounting flange 25 secured in a "depression 26 provided in the edge 2? of the 'door 'f-rameadjacent the door 26, the flange or plate 25 carrying a housing 28 for a resilient insert 29.

The-insert 29 is, in turn, formed-with-a frustoconical recess or socket 30 which is adaptedto removably receive a frusto-conical nose'3l provided at the outer end'of the bolt 2-2. -'It will be noted that the plate 25 is also'equippedwithan outwardly projecting lug 32,'the purpose of which will be hereinafter more fully described.

The aforementioned locking bolt '22 is formed at the inner end thereof with-a reduced shank 33, the latter extending through the inner end of the sleeve l6 and being pivotally connected as at 3 to a remote control rod'35. The-latter, in turn, is operatively connected to an inside door'handle (not shown) and matters are so arranged that the nose 3| may be withdrawn from the catch 24 by the manipulation of this handle, as will be clearly understood.

The conventional, downwardlydepresslble'outside door handle is substituted in theinvention by an outwardly swingable handle '36 which is normally disposed'in a recess 31 formed in the outer surface of the door 20 and is pivotally mounted as at 38 on albracket;39 provide'dinthe door structure. The handle "361s equipped with an inwardly extending finger 40 which engages a transverse slot 4| formed'in thelocking bolt 22. It should, of course, be understood that the frame 16 is provided with a suitable opening (not shown) to facilitate the reception of the finger in the slot, and it will be noted that the rear end or edge of the slot assumes the form of a cam surface 52, such as may be effectively engaged by the finger 40. Accordingly, when the handle 36 is pulled in the direction of the arrow 43, the nose 3| will be disengaged from the catch 24 in a similar manner as if the locking bolt is actuated by means of the remote control rod 35. as has been already explained.

Means are provided for preventing the sliding of the locking bolt under the actuation of the handle 36, and at the same time, facilitating the manipulation of the locking bolt by the remote control rod 35. This means consists of a keeper 44, configurated substantially as shown in Figure 9, the same being pivotally attached as at 45 to the sleeve I6. keeper notch 46 formed in the keeper'44 normally engages the end portion 4! of the aforementioned finger 40 and thereby prevents movement of the finger and of the associated handle 36, as will be clearly apparent. Of course, at the same time, the bolt 22 may be slid by means of the rod 35, this action being facilitated by virtue of the slot 4|. In other words, the slot 4| will permit the sliding movement of the bolt 22, while the finger 40 remains stationary.

'It should be understood that the gravitational effect of the keeper 44 will normally retain the notch 46 in engagement with the end portion 46 of the finger 40. However, the keeper may be disengaged from the end portion by being lifted upwardly (the direction of the arrow 48) by means of an upwardly extending control rod 49 which is pivotally connected to the keeper as indicated at 50.

g The upper end of the rod 49 is operatively connected to a control button, or the like, 5|, provided on the inside of the door 20. It

will be noted that by simply depressing the button 5|, the keeper 44 will be disengaged from the finger 46, thereby facilitating the actuation of the bolt 22 by means of the handle 36.

Finally, the invention includes means for releasably retaining the locking bolt in the withdrawn position, said means comprising a trigger 52 which is suitably mounted medially of its .length in the door structure as indicated at 53.

One end portion of this trigger projects outwardly through an opening provided in the aforementioned mounting plate While the remaining end portion of the trigger is laterally angulated and constitutes what may be referred to as a detent 54. r

A suitable spring 55 is employed for normally urging the detent 54 into a slot or recess 56 formed in the locking bolt 22. To this end, the sleeve I6 is formed with a suitable opening 51, and it will be noted that the recess or slot 56 is disposed substantially at right angles to the aforementioned slot 4|.

When the invention is placed in use, the door 2|] will be securely held in its locked position by the engagement of the nose 3| with the catch 24, as illustrated in the accompanying Figure 3. The door may be opened by means of either the outside handle 36 or the inside remote control 35, in both instances the nose being disengaged from the catch by the sliding of the locking bolt 22.

Matters are so arranged that as soon as the locking bolt is fully withdrawn, the spring 55 will urge the detent 54 into engagement with the recess 56 and the locking bolt will thus be retained in the fully withdrawn position as long as the door remains open.

Matters are so arranged that the However, when the door is closed, the engagement of the lug 32 with the trigger 52 will automatically disengage the detent 54 from the recess 56 and the bolt 22 will be projected into engagement with the catch 24 by the resiliency of the spring 23.

It will be apparent that one of the major advantages of the invention resides in the fact that unlike in looks of conventional design, the looking bolt will not be scraped against the door frame when the door is being closed and furthermore, the door, when closed, will be maintained in proper alignment by the self-centering nature of the co-acting nose and catch 3| and 24 respectively.

It should be also pointed out that since the nose 3| is engageable with the resilient insert 29, so-called metal-to-metal contact of the co-acting parts will be avoided, thus resulting in the elimination of squeaks, rattles, and other noises, incident to the operation oflocks of conventional design. V 7

Finally, if desired, the invention may include in its construction a conventional, key-actuated lock cylinder designated collectively by the reference character 56. The shank 59 of this cylinder may be operatively connected to the locking bolt 22, whereby the actuation of the latter by means of the handle 36 is prevented. It is felt that the operating connection of the cylinder 58 is more or less a matter of mechanical expediency, such as will be clearly apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains. Accordingly, a further description thereof at this point is considered unnecessary;

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferredembodiment of this invention it is to be understood that minor changes in the details of construction combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What I claim as my invention is:

In a locking mechanism for a door provided in one side thereof withan elongated recess, a tubular sleeve secured in said door and formed with diametrically opposed openings, a spring-pressed REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 7 1,568,353 Tullis Jan. 5, 1926 2,243,179 Whittier May 27 1941 2,298,598 Sitter Oct. 13, 1942 2,407,999

Rightmyer Sept. 24, 1946 

